Unit construction booths

ABSTRACT

A dual facing booth having a clip-on bracket assembly for fastening the seats to the framework and a unique one-piece construction for mounting both booths and the table on a single framework.

United States Patent 11 1 3,847,424

Nielsen 1 Nov. 12, 1974 UNIT CONSTRUCTION BOOTHS' 1.983.559 12 1934 N011297/158 2,531,322 11/1950 Cohe [76] Inventor: g w" g iz 2.542.931 2/1951Lightf oot 297/445 r., en on, inn. 22 H d 2 1:73 FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS l Jam 947,349 0 1949 France 297/440 [21] App]. No.: 320,517

Primary ExaminerPa'ul R. Gi11iam 1 Assistant Examiner-William E. Lyddane292/158 i4 i gt3l Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Neil B. Schulte [58] Field ofSearch 297/157, 158, 440, 443,

297/444, 445, 220, 452, 457, 245 [57] ABSTRACT 1 A dual facing boothhaving a clip-on bracket assembly [56] Ref ren s Cit d for fastening theseats to the framework and a unique UNITED STATES PATENTS one-piececonstruction for mounting both booths and l 479 939 9/1922 Eichman297,158 the table on a single framework. 1.692.252 11/1928 Eichman297/440 X 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures P NIEnuuv 12 I974 3.847; 424

sum 1 or 2 PATENTEDHuv 12 IBM 4 SEEI 2w 2 UNIT CONSTRUCTION BOOTI-ISBACKGROUND OF TI-IEINVENTION tened. Generally the framework is designedto break 10 down into a relatively compact structure'for easy shipment.The seat portions themselves are stacked-one within another in ordertoprovidea compact'shipping package. The assembly operation-attheinstallation site requires that the seats be'fasten'ed securely to theassembled framework. ln'the'past this'has generally been done byproviding brackets which must be laboriously screwed into the seatportion. This assembly procedure is time consuming and expensive .sincethe brackets must be carefully located in order to properly assemble 2FIG. 4 is a perspective :view of the special generally flat bracket thatis mounted on the seat portions at the factory. I

FIG. 5 is an underside view of a cutaway portion of one seat showingthegeneral location of the mounting brackets relative to the'frameworkassembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT InFIG. l an-end view of theassembled booth construction of my invention is shown. Two bench seatsthe unit booth. Furthermore, many times the frame-has to be positionedin place beforehand and the-screws inserted from the underside of theseatportions. This requires a very difficult workingposition. Theworkman have to crawl underneath the booth and mark, drill, and insertscrews in a large number of holes from-underneath the bench. This addstothe costofinstallation enormously.

It would be mostadvantageous if the seats could be prepared at thefactory so that they could simply be 7 bolted or clipped onto theframework at the installation site. Such an operation wouldinsure thatall of-the mounting brackets would be positioned correctly on the seatportions and anchored securely. This would also eliminate thenecessityof a'difficultassembly p'ro cedure at the installation site andthus reduce: the overall cost of the booth. My inventionprovides such anarrangement as described hereinafter.

SUMMARY "OF THE INVENTION Briefly, my invention contemplates theprovision of provide an improved booth-structure'which because ofspecially designed seat clips can be easilyinstalled and assembled at aminimum oflabor cost. 'Further'objects and advantages will'becomeapparent-upon consideration of the following description-anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is'a side view of the'boothconstructionofmy invention. I

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the framework of the booth of myinvention-with most 'of'theseat portioncut away to betterdisplay'the'iframework.

FIG. 3 is a detail'sectional-side-viewofftheseatportion of the boothshowinglheunique 'clipassembly for fastening 'theseatportiontotheframework.

and Hate shown mountedonthe framework. Generally seats 10 and l2comprise preformed molded bench seatsconstructed fromlaminated layers ofwood and plastic in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.These laminated seats 10 and 12 are supported on a framework by-means ofunique clip-on bracket assemblies :14. and 16. Clip-on assemblies 14 and16 will be described in detaillater with respect to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.

The configuration of the frame assembly may be more readily understoodby reference to FIG. 2. In FIG. 2 it may be seen that the supportingframework comprises a pair of rectangular frames 18 and 19connectedtogether by means of a cross member 20. This unitary structureis supported at four corners by means of legs 21. The entire structuremay be welded or boltedtogether as desired in a manner well known tothose skilled in-the art. Extending upward from cross member 20'are twoupright members'22 which support a pair of angle support members 23.Members 23 support a table top 24 which for the sake of clarity isshownonly in FIG. 1'. In FIG. 2 only a portion of seat 12 is shown toindicate its mounting position on the framework. The remaining portionof seat 12 and all of seat 10 have been eliminated in FIG. 2 in order tosee the structure of the framework.

Retuming-to. FIG. lit maybe seen that upright members 22 are connectedto cross member 20 by means of apair of bolts 25 which pass throughmember 20 to threadably engage blocks 26 inside of upright members- 22.Blocks 26 are welded or otherwise secured to the insides of uprightmembers 22.'When bolts 25 are tightened down against washers 27 andmember 20 the upright-members 22 are-held rigidly in place so that tabletop 24may-ber'nounted on the support members 23.

The designof the supporting framework as depicted in-FIGS. -l and2has-beenfoundtobe particularly efficientand desirable in actualpractice. When seated side by side persons utilizing the booth are stillprovided with a feeling of .privacy and'separateness becauseofthe'middle crossbar 20 which divides the seats. With this construction.the booth structure iseasy to assemble quickly just by fastening theupright members to the tabletopand to the cross'member 20. I

.In'FIG. '3 asectional-detail view of seat 12 and itsassociated clip-onbracket assemblies 14 and 16 ispresented. A pair of relatively flatspecial brackets30are mounted at thefa'ctory directly to the seatportion:l2.

Brackets 30 may be-seen in perspective in FIG. 4. Each bracket30-comprises two fastening portions 31 and a raised centralportion32.The flat portions 31 are provided with screw-holes 33while theraisedcenterportion32 is provided with a bolt anchoring hole 34 which 'isthreaded. :ReturningLto FIG. '3 it may be seen that :brackets 30 aresecurely mountedto seat 12 by means of screws 36 which are positionedinall of the holes 33 in the fastening portions 31 of brackets 30. At thefront of seat 12 frame 18 is fastened to seat 12 by means of bracketassembly 14. Bracket assembly 14 comprises a metal strap having anupright portion 40 and horizontal portions 41 and 42 extending inopposite directions 44 is inserted and tightened bracket assembly 14 isrigidly fastened about the forward portion of rectangular frame 18. Thehorizontal portion 41 extending at right angles from upright portion 40may be inserted underneath bracket 30 sliding between seat 12 and theraised portion 32 of bracket 30. With horizontal portion 41 insertedunderneath the front bracket 30 the rear portion of rectangular frame 18fits snugly up against the rear bracket 30 at point 35. To insure thatrectangular frame 18 remains firmly against the rearof seat 12, bracketassembly 16 is positioned as shown. Bracket assembly 16 comprises amemberSO which wraps around underneath, inside, and then back over thetop of rectangular frame 18. Member 50 has a hole 51 therein throughwhich a bolt 52 is inserted. Bolt 52 is threaded into hole 34 in bracket30 so as to securely hold rectangular frame 18 up against the bottom ofseat 12'.

It is clear that the steps .of mounting bracket assemblies l4 and 16 tothe frame 18 and securing them to brackets 30 makes for a much easierprocess than crawling underneath the bench and screwing in amultiplicity of screws similar to screws 36. Thus, assembly at theinstallation site is made much easier by the appaf ratus of myinvention. Any number of clip assemblies 14 and 16 may be utilized tomount the seats to the frame. However, in the preferred embodiment it iscontemplated that each seat may use fourbrackets as shown in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 5 a bottom view of seat portion 12 is shown. Four brackets 30are mounted as shown generally at the four corners. This is easily doneat the factory and such factory mounting insures that the benches willbe properly aligned and securely anchored when finally installed.Bracket assemblies 14 and 16 are installed as shown at four locationsabout rectangular frame 18 so as to provide a completely rigid andsecure structure. A similar arrangement is used on seat portion 10.

It may therefore be seen that l have provided a new and improved boothstructure which can be shipped compactly and which can be easily andinexpensively installed at the final assembly point. Clearly, it ispossible for minor deviations tobe made to the structure shown withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention-and therefore thefollowing claims are presented to emphasizethose novel aspects of theinvention.

1 claim:

1. A booth assembly comprising in combination:

a frame structure for supporting a table and two benches;

a pair of benches of similar shape so as to be mutually stackable;

a plurality of thin brackets fastened to the underside of said benches,said brackets having slightly raised portions, said brackets being thinso as to avoid interfering with the stacking of the benches; and

first bracket clip means, operable to engage said frame structure andslip between said benches and the raised portions of at least some ofsaid plurality of brackets, said bracket clip meanscomprising at thefront of the bench a first member bolted around said frame structurewith a first extension from said member adapted to slide under theraised portion of one of said plurality of brackets and at the rear ofthe bench a second member shaped to surround the frame structure with abolt in said second member adapted to thread into a hole in one of saidplurality of brackets.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 including a table supported on said framestructure by means of two vertical members extending down from said'table to a single cross member extending between the portions of theframe structure supporting each of said pair of benches. v

3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which said two vertical members arehollow and each contains a plug therein with threaded holes in the plugsto accept bolts extending through said cross member.

1. A booth assembly comprising in combination: a frame structure forsupporting a table and two benches; a pair of benches of similar shapeso as to be mutually stackable; a plurality of thin brackets fastened tothe underside of said benches, said brackets having slightly raisedportions, said brackets being thin so as to avoid interfering with thestacking of the benches; and first bracket clip means operable to engagesaid frame structure and slip between said benches and the raisedportions of at least some of said plurality of brackets, said bracketclip means comprising at the front of the bench a first member boltedaround said frame structure with a first extension from said memberadapted to slide under the raised portion of one of said plurality ofbrackets and at the rear of the bench a second member shaped to surroundthe frame structure with a bolt in said second member adapted to threadinto a hole in one of said plurality of brackets.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1 including a table supported on said frame structure by means oftwo vertical members extending down from said table to a single crossmember extending between the portions of the frame structure supportingeach of said pair of benches.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which saidtwo vertical members are hollow and each contains a plug therein withthreaded holes in the plugs to accept bolts extending through said crossmember.